Embarrassing errors by batsmen and captaincy failings threaten to undo all the good work

Last year Jimmy Anderson said this England team could be the best England team
of all time. My answer to that is: “Don’t make us laugh, Jimmy.” You and
your mates can’t go on pretending you are the best team in the world now,
never mind ever.

Under fire: England captain Andrew Strauss needs to address issues in both his own batting and his captaincyPhoto: AP

If we can’t win in the sub-continent then England are a one-dimensional team. We are very good if pitches are true and the seamers can dominate. As soon as the pitch becomes a slow turner and demands adjustment in technique and temperament from the batsmen we make silly mistakes.

The problem is these guys don’t bat as a unit. We have had six innings against Pakistan and two against Sri Lanka and the batsmen are the main reason England have lost four Test matches on the trot.

When are England going to learn? We have so many backroom staff now. There is a full-time batting coach in Graham Gooch and a full-time senior coach in Andy Flower. Both have excellent Test match records yet nothing has changed.

Somebody has to start asking the tough questions. To Andrew Strauss: why were you sweeping off the stumps in the first innings? Why were you trying to hit over the top in the second innings? That is not your game.

To Kevin Pietersen: why in the first innings did you play so far in front of your pad first ball after lunch? The gap was so big you could have driven your car through it. Then why did you try and hit it in the air so early in the second innings on the fourth morning?

To Ian Bell: why are you sweeping off the stumps? The sweep shot to a ball pitched on the stumps is fraught with danger. Now with the DRS in place, a big stride forward will not save you. It will also prove the ball will go on and hit the stumps. The days of batsmen getting away with the benefit of the doubt are gone. It is absolutely brainless to sweep when ball is pitched on the stumps.

We made so many unbelievable, elementary batting errors against Pakistan and we are still doing it against Sri Lanka. The batsmen cannot or will not adjust their thinking and shot selection.

Patience and concentration is a problem with some of them. If we get another turning pitch in Colombo tomorrow and another loss that will be five out of five. If that happens it shouldn’t be allowed to go on.

The problem is if we get a good flat batting pitch the same batsmen will probably “fill their boots” then these same guys will be back playing Tests in England on surfaces they are comfortable with. That will tell us nothing and it will wallpaper over the cracks.

So it will be better if we get another slow turner to give our batsmen a final chance to show what they are made of. Do they have the brains to go with their ability?

The coaches have to tell them “fail again and you will not be going to India for four Tests in November and December.”

Strauss in particular has been making some terrible shot selections. His batting is under pressure and his leadership has been exposed. He is too defensive and sits back waiting for things to happen.

In the field he needs to inject some life into everyone. Instead of being two steps ahead of the game he follows the ball.

He has been able to do that when his seamers have dominated matches. But with spinners you need to be proactive, change the field, intimidate the new batsman with close in fielders and try to get them out before they get in.

Many skippers don’t understand the nuances of spin bowling so they don’t captain it well. Andrew is one of them. Being a nice guy we all like shouldn’t save him if there is another embarrassing loss.

If he and some of his batsmen don’t improve he is on borrowed time and there will need to be changes.

Our two best batsmen are Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott. They play long innings and sell their wickets dearly. Cook was dismissed twice cheaply playing defensively so no blame on him. Trott fell over ignominiously in the first innings and then batted beautifully for a perfect century in the second.

But there is a lot of dressing room talk that some of the players don’t want to get tied down against the spinners and so want to bat positively.

What they really mean is they want to attack and play shots. We would all like to play shots. But sometimes common sense and situations demand an alternative method.

Playing positively can mean blocking the ball with a good defensive shot that sends a statement to the bowler that you can play him. Time is not an issue either because England Tests this winter have finished with a day to spare.

My uncle Algy used to say: “Stay in, because you can’t make runs in the pavilion.” And he was dead right.

My advice is you can’t get better until you accept you have a problem. Perhaps some of our batsmen have read Jimmy Anderson’s comments last year and think they are better than they really are.